Is homesick Corden ready to quit U.S.?
FUNNYMAN James Corden embodied the American Dream when he packed his bags for Hollywood last February to present one of the biggest chat shows in the U.S.
Yet despite the Californian sun and his multi-million-pound pay cheques for his job hosting The Late Late Show on CBS, is the Hillingdon-born actor and producer already tiring of the glitz and glamour of Tinseltown?
Just over a year since Corden moved wife Julia and their two children — son Max, five, and daughter Carey, 18 months — into an £18,000-per-month villa in Los Angeles, I’m told he is missing Blighty and is keen to move back to Britain as soon as his £10 million golden handcuffs deal with CBS expires.
‘ He was openly talking about returning to London,’ says a source in America, who attended the same party as Corden this week.
According to my source, Corden is keen to do more film and theatre work. But his career plans may come as a shock to CBS bosses. Last August, the network extended Corden’s initial three-year contract by two years, and reportedly increased his pay packet to £1.5 million a year.
Corden, 37, hasn’t commented on his pay rise, but has discussed the fact he will be working abroad until 2020. ‘ Five years,’ he said recently. ‘They can sack me at any point, but I don’t think I can leave.’
Corden, who grew up in ‘ normal’ High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, and shot to fame playing Essex builder Smithy in the sitcom Gavin And Stacey, has been a surprise hit since taking over from Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show last March.
But the West Ham fan has confessed to feeling homesick.
Shortly after he arrived in LA, where neighbours include Steven Spielberg and Gwyneth Paltrow, he said: ‘I miss my friends and family.
‘There’s a weird thing that happens at 2pm when you realise even if you wanted to you couldn’t phone them.’